Babies and children's clinic in York expanding services
Babies and young children up to five years old are now benefiting from a new clinic at Askham Bar Health Village in York.
A new children’s clinic in York is proving so successful it has already expanded its service, with an earlier opening time of 2.30pm Monday to Friday.
The new ‘Paediatric Ambulatory Treatment Hub’ is a collaboration between York and Scarborough Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group and Nimbuscare.
The pilot scheme aims to prevent babies and young children coming into hospital unnecessarily with respiratory illnesses.
The dedicated GP and paediatric nurse-led service is now available for babies and children from 3 months to five years of age with all respiratory illness, including croup, bronchiolitis and viral wheezing.
Parents and carers must first contact the child’s GP for an initial assessment who can refer into the clinic if appropriate.
They will then be seen by an experienced children’s nurse, working alongside a GP, in a child and family friendly ‘Hub’ at Askham Bar.
Dr Rebecca Brown, clinical lead for the Paediatric Ambulatory Treatment Hub, explained:
"Since launching a few weeks ago, we are adapting the service to meet the needs of local families and have already expanded to including children up to 5 years and we are offering earlier appointments starting at 2.30pm until 8.30pm.
"And we are happy to see babies and young children with all respiratory illnesses now, including Croup, Bronchiolitis and what we call ‘Pre-school Wheeze’ which is a type of breathing difficulty which young children often get.
"When we first started our appointments were starting at 4pm and going up to 10pm because we recognised that was a very busy time in the emergency department. However, the feedback from families is that they wanted those earlier appointments.
"If they'd spoken to a GP in the morning they didn't want to wait until the evening to be seen, so we brought the time forward and we've had a really good response from parents.
"One mum told me that she spoke to her GP at 9am and if she had had to wait any longer for a face to face review she probably would have ended up in the emergency department.
"It’s important that parents and carers seek advice from their GP first if they are concerned– this way they can come to see us, rather than blocking up the Emergency Department at the hospital."
"It gives us more scope in that clinic to keep children for a bit longer, just to make sure that they are going to manage well at home. We also have support from the paediatric consultants so we can contact them on the phone and to discuss the patient".